Sent straight into the lead, he picked up the pace markedly from three furlongs out. He clocked 36.46 seconds from that point compared with the 37.59, 39.06 and 39.39 seconds in the next three races – all of which were over the same distance (a mile and 50 yards).

Two furlongs out, it looked possible that Third Dimension’s rivals might get to him but he quickened again to run the penultimate furlong in just 11.6 seconds (quite something for soft ground).

Third Dimension is build and bred for a good deal longer than a mile and his trainer, Ger Lyons, was talking about Royal Ascot after the race. I guess he could be thinking about the King George V Handicap over a mile and a half but the Group 3 Tercentenary stakes over 10 furlongs might well be a more logical target.

There was a terrific three-way finish to the Listed Martin Molony Stakes at Limerick won by the smart filly Tarana (30-pace adjusted 38).

The moderate early gallop set by Inis Meain saw a sprint finish develop in which Tarana and runner-up El Salvador closed on the leader and passed him close home. The short head verdict in Tarana’s favour was due to her head being down, but nonetheless it was another fine performance from this very useful filly.

I imagine the goal for Tarana is to win a group race and then try to at least place in a Group 1. The first objective should be pretty simple on my ratings and the second is perfectly possible.

Runner up El Salvador (30-pace adjusted 38) was slowly wearing Tarana down and was a little unlucky to lose on a head bob. You’d think a big, rangy horse like El Salvador would prefer big galloping courses. But to date he’s won four from six on tracks 11 furlongs or less in circumference and finished second in his two losses.

El Salvador looks rather interesting in the Chester Cup, given his affinity for tight tracks. The logical big race target for El Salvador just has to be the valuable American St Leger. He’d like the tight turns and the fast ground and showed here he could handle the kind of sprint finish that’s the norm in American turf racing. If any horse is going to stop Marco Botti winning the American St Leger for a third year running I’d say it’s El Salvador.

Danny Mullins on third-placed Inis Meain (30-pace adjusted 38) slowed things down in front and looked like holding on for a long way when he kicked for home. But he lacked the finishing speed and was passed close home. Inis Meain remains a tough horse to beat with cut in the ground when he encounters a single figure field, whether it’s on the flat or over hurdles and over any distance from ten furlongs to three miles.